911 services are rapidly expanding in scope to include wireless units. Wireless units include conventional portable analog and digital phones and those installed as embedded components of telematics systems in vehicles.
In an example telematics service system, an operating service management subsystem acts as an intermediary or gateway into 911 services. If the occupants of a vehicle equipped with a telematics unit place an emergency call to a service management subsystem, an agent at the service management subsystem extracts vehicle position data and establishes contact with the vehicle occupants. The agent locates a PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) within proximity of the telematics unit, then contacts the PSAP via an administrative line. Administrative lines are voice only physical telephone lines that do not have 911-priority status. The agent at the service management subsystem converses with an operator at the PSAP and conveys the location and description of the vehicle that placed the emergency call. The agent at the service management subsystem facilitates a connection between the vehicle and the PSAP, then disengages from the call.
Wire-line 911 functionality is being extended to incorporate wireless communications devices. These new functional extensions include a Public Safety Answering Point/Computer Aided Dispatch system that acts as a local 911 response entity, and an Automatic Location Identification database that provides the location of the mobile unit, or wireless telephone, at the time an emergency call is placed. Other extensions include a Positioning Determination Entity that uses one of several position determination technologies to derive the location of a mobile unit, and a Coordinate Routing Database that translates mobile unit latitude and longitude into a key relating to the Emergency Services Zone where a vehicle is located.
Telematics service providers are faced with a set of new issues when migrating to wireless 911 functionality. Telematics service providers have access to the location of the mobile unit placing the emergency call, obviating or reducing the need for accessing the Positioning Determination Entity. Other issues for a telematics service provider are the lack national 911 trunk connectivity, lack of standardized message routing formats and protocols, and the lack of standardized formats and protocols for populating local Automatic Location Identifier databases. Connectivity to these components may be prevented, interrupted or disconnected due to faults within the public network, such as mismatched routing and ALI protocols.